Government employees give free coaching to tribal students in Kotra

The initiative is the brainchild of Kotra sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Nishant Jain, who is a 2015-batch IAS officer.

Officers take class as part of 'Margdarshan' for tribal youth to guide and prep them for competitive exams at Kotra. (HT PHOTO)

Some government employees have taken up an initiative to empower youths in Kotra tehsil of Udaipur district by preparing them for competitive examinations.

Under the initiative ‘Margdarshan’, started two weeks ago, the government employees are providing free coaching and guidance to the tehsil students for competitive examinations such as that of patwari, gram sewak, constable, bank and short service commission. The classes are held on holidays (Saturday and Sunday), primarily for Class 12 students.

The initiative is the brainchild of Kotra sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Nishant Jain, who is a 2015-batch IAS officer.

Jain said, “While inspecting the hostels run by government for tribal students, I realised that students have lots of potential and if they prepare (for competitive examinations) they can do better. Some of the employees such as Banwari Lal Bumbaria, who is block statistical officer and a local, cleared (many) competitive examinations. He is inspiration for the students, as one among them, he got success.”

The SDM said the employees are working to the cause voluntarily. “On weekends, government employees such as block level officers, patwaris, junior engineers, school teachers and retired principals teach students General Knowledge, English, Hindi, Mathematics and Reasoning voluntarily,” he said.

“This Saturday was the second week of the initiative and around 30-40 students attended the class. The students are guided and taught to strengthen their weakness with focus on helping them crack examinations they are appearing for. Many students who are attending class are preparing for constable and patwari posts,” said Jain.

Explaining how the initiative began, Bumbaria recalled, “SDM sir in a meeting on January 1 asked what all resolutions we (employees) have taken for this year. I told him that I used to teach economics in government schools, but was unable to maintain regularity, but I’ll ensure now (that regularity is maintained). He liked the idea and asked us to work on it collectively.”

At present, 17 volunteers are providing their services; among them are lecturers, retired and serving school principals, junior engineers, a BSNL officer, a gram panchayat secretary, lab technicians and an assistant agriculture officer. “Secretary Gram Panchayat Nichli Subri, Ali Asgar is even holding physical training classes for students appearing for constable recruitment,” Bumbaria said. “We are also planning to hold motivational and English speaking classes,” he added.

This is not an isolated case where government employees in Rajasthan have volunteered themselves for social causes.

In Alwar, Shahid Balwant Singh Government Model Senior Secondary School at Ujoli village has been running 365 days a year without any off day for the past two years. On holidays, teachers take extra classes for the students of Class 9, 10 and 11 in a bid to plug their weaknesses. Similarly, the district administration in Sriganganagar is running two-hour career orientation programmes at hostels run by the social justice and empowerment department since 2017.